Greta Thunberg's tough speech at the United Nations
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The 16-year-old delivered fiery words to the General Assembly. “You come to us, the young people, looking for hope, how dare you?”
«They come to us young people looking for hope, how dare they?» Thus, between indignation and tears, Greta Thunberg delivered her speech to the United Nations at the climate change summit.
«They have stolen my dreams and my childhood with their empty words, and yet I am one of the luckiest. People are suffering, people are dying, whole ecosystems are collapsing,» said the Swedish activist.
Her words before the world leaders generated strong expectations in the previous days. Last Friday, the 16-year old had rallied thousands of people to participate in mass protests against climate change. The eyes of all future generations are on you,» Thunberg said, adding that ”young people will never forgive you“ if you do not stop this phenomenon.
«We are at the beginning of a mass extinction, and all they can think about is money and fairy tales,” Greta argued to the General Assembly.
«We won't let them get away with it. Here and now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and change is coming, whether they like it or not,» concluded the founder of Fridays for Future.
High-impact environmental warrior
“What's the point of learning if we're not going to have a future?” he explained several times to the media. A year ago, Thunberg started skipping school and protesting in front of the Swedish parliament with a banner. He quickly became a symbol of young people's dissatisfaction with government inaction on climate change. Fridays for Future became a symbol and is imitated by thousands of young people around the world.
She crossed the Atlantic under sail, wrote a book, organized global marches, met with Pope Francis and other world leaders, gave a TED talk, gave numerous speeches that went around the world and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Greta has Asperger's Syndrome, a developmental disorder that falls within the autism spectrum. However, according to her, this is what gives her determination: “It makes me see the world differently. I see lies more easily.
In December of last year, the teenager spoke out at the 14th UN Climate Change Conference with words that made headlines around the world: “You only talk about green, eternal economic growth because you're too afraid of not being popular. You only talk about going forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the planet. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many that pay for the luxury of the few.”.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Greta went for more and assured the world leaders present: “Either we choose to continue as a civilization or not. Adults say ‘we have to give hope to the next generation’. But I don't want their hope, nor do I want them to have it. I want them to panic, I want them to feel the fear that I feel every day, and then I want them to act. I want them to act like their house is on fire, because that's what's happening.”.
It's no wonder, then, that Time magazine called her one of the leaders of the next generation: «When I grow up, I want to be able to look back and say I did everything I could. I think more people should feel that way.
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